The sports industry in Malaysia remains largely untapped despite numerous efforts to promote the concept in the past.
The Youth and Sports Ministry had during Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek’s time in office, initiated the drive but it became muted soon after he left.
One man who was in the thick of things then was Datuk Dr Ramlan Aziz.
The musically inclined doctor, who once headed the National Sports Institute (NSI) and Anti-Doping Agency of Malaysia, recalled the series of programmes that were laid out and now ponders what happened to them.
As Dr Ramlan retires on April 21, minus the farewell party in view of the Movement Control Order (MCO), he shares his insights about sports industry in Malaysia.
This is in response to new Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican’s vision of pushing for greater awareness of the sports industry, as revealed in an interview with Twentytwo13 yesterday.
Dr Ramlan also talks about his journey as a government official, the MCO and Covid-19.
What happened to the sports industry drive initiated by the ministry in 2009?
Dr Ramlan: Ahmad Shabery entrusted me and the NSI to organise the first Sports Industry Convention in 2009. It was quite successful but it was decided that subsequent editions be organised by other parties. And when they got into a fix, we were roped in to help out, which we did. There was even a division formed, which was well-intended, but later minuted to a small unit under another division.
I am grateful to Ahmad Shabery for running this.
Sports industry is also about having connection with sports science and other sports-related elements. The two editions of the conventions were more business-aligned, which was good. But you need to link the back end and the front end … the whole spectrum.
If you think too much about sales and not inventions or manufacturing products, then it defeats the purpose. Without a product, you have nothing to sell, and you can’t be selling someone else’s product.
In 2015, I was tasked to look at youth entrepreneurship. I saw the opportunity of youths getting into business in many areas like sportswear and ideas conceptulised by NSI could be manufactured and marketed by the youths.
So this brings me back to the importance of looking at the sports industry as a whole. I was getting somewhere then as the ministry official overlooking this, Dr Aishah (Kasa), was quite supportive. But when new people took over, and despite this ‘penyerahan’ file (handing over of files), they seemed to have their own interests, thus some of the good ideas and initiatives were sidelined. That’s the reality of life.
NSI worked with UK-based Vorteq to come up with a new bicycle and now plans to produce it for the masses. There must have been more of such initiatives in the past. What happened?
Dr Ramlan: We were looking at either coming up with ideas or use existing ideas and make it cheaper and widely available in the Malaysian market. For example, the cold immersion tub. We at NSI bought it and realised it was actually a simple device. And if we came up with a cheaper version, it would be affordable for athletes at lower levels, mainly the state and district levels.
There was another idea that was conceptualised when I was with NSI. Our blind runners were training with a string attached to another runner. It was too cottage industry. We came up with the concept of a proximity detactor. It beeps and monitors the speed of the runner. If the runner gets too close to another runner, the beep will be faster (like a reverse sensor in a vehicle). Then I was out of NSI and there were many interruptions, so I don’t know if anything has been done with the idea.
We have lost talents along the way.
Dr Ramlan: Yes, we have. We had a Sri Lankan student studying in a private university in Subang Jaya and he came up with a Badminton Analysis Tool (BAT). The minute he graduated, we offered him a job at NSI and even worked on the BAT with him and there was even a joint intellectual property arrangement between NSI and the expert over the tool. But when I left, he was not fully utilised and appreciated, and he left. Today he is based in Australia.
There seems to be a fixation that the Youth and Sports Ministry is only for the elite athletes, that the sports industry only concerns the elite few.
Dr Ramlan: The NSI, for example, has a lot potential and I’m glad there has been continuity of the sports industry drive, in its own way. The results – NSI’s private wing which opened its doors last year and the new (WX-R) bicycle.
There is also a need to educate. If setting up a (NSI) university will be difficult as it involves another ministry (Higher Learning), then we can easily overcome that by running courses in partnership with universities.
So if you have noticed, it’s not just about the elite athletes. It must always be about mass sports. You can’t be plucking talents from trees. There must be a sporting culture, a vibrant culture of fitness and physical education. Right now we are losing athletes to computer games.
But right now people are concerned about Covid-19 and the possible extension of the MCO.
Dr Ramlan: I wouldn’t be surprised (if it gets extended). We need more time and the fullest extent to complete this whole fight against Covid-19. If you look at the whole thing, generally speaking whatever time you think … two weeks, four weeks, two months … if we need to do it, do it. I must say the Health Ministry has done a great job thus far.
You will retire on April 21. How would you summarise your journey as a government official in one word?
Dr Ramlan: Ermmmm … (laughs) … one word will be a feeling. Rewarding. But not in the serious sense.
If I can explain, people come and go and I always look forward to being replaced by better people. At least I know the work we do will not go to waste.
Rewarding because I see sports as beyond sports. What I have done over the years, there has been some impact. For that I am thankful. Sports isn’t just about sports, it’s about health, fitness, recreation, crime prevention, youth development, and much more. People will not underestimate the value of sports but it’s often easy to forget the purpose and potential of sports.
Those who are in it will never forget that sports can create an impact well beyond its parameters.
No party on April 21 due to the MCO, that’s for sure. But I’ll be happy celebrating my retirement at home with my loved ones.
